In the build up to The Staff Canteen Live 2016 - Skillery supported by the Craft Guild of Chefs at Hotelympia, we are taking a closer look at the chefs who will be joining us on stage. We dig a little deeper to find out what they are hiding under those chef whites!
Claude Bosi, is the chef and owner of Hibiscus located in the heart of Mayfair, London. Hibiscus first opened its doors in 2000 but has only been situated in Mayfair since 2007. In 2009, Claude's Mayfair restaurant was listed as only second to The Fat Duck in the UK National Restaurant of the Year awards. Claude gained his first Michelin star within a year of the Hibiscus opening and then a second in 2004.
When did you decide you wanted to become a chef?
"I was 13, I started working in a little Brasserie in Lyon and I worked there for a year."
As a Frenchman, is Paris like London in as much if you want to get anywhere; be anyone you have to go to London. Is it the same in France you HAVE to go to Paris?
"I would say that, in this country, you have to go to London because there are not that many big cities. To work in London you learn the pace of a busy city; you do big numbers and sometimes in the countryside.
"I mean Ludlow was 35 covers, you can't just learn in the country you need to come to the city. I love the city that is where I come from. In France, you can go to Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux all quite big cities and they all have good restaurants, that's why it is not as important to go to Paris as it is to come to London."
At The Staff Canteen we want to see what makes chefs tick. We asked Claude a few questions about what he gets up to when he's not in the kitchen:
Would you rather order a starter or a pudding?
Starter for sure.
What would your last meal be?
My mother's pike mousse with her delicious mushroom sauce.
What was the last thing you ate?
I had a superb100-day old roasted chicken, then cheese and my favourite trifle.
If you weren't a chef what would you be?
Perhaps a carpenter.
If you could choose to dine in any restaurant in the world which would you choose?
I recently visited L'Amboisie in Paris, and had a momentous and inspirational meal – and I cannot wait to return there.
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